In the Netherlands, a criminal network was uncovered that helped Ugandans to obtain political asylum as persecuted gay men in their homeland. Reported by Reuters.
The European government has examined about 250 asylum cases and identified 36 cases of fraud. Amsterdam has now withdrawn refugee status from one Ugandan and has introduced stricter criteria for seeking asylum based on sexual orientation for citizens of that country. Dozens more cases will be reviewed in the near future.
According to the Netherlands Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND), the network helped Ugandan petitioners collect documents and train them to pretend to be LGBT. For this service, the scammers demanded 2.5 thousand euros.
LGBT human rights activists have expressed concern that the precedent will create difficulties for real refugees. “It's really bad that now a whole group of people, whether they were pretending or not, is now considered unreliable,” said Sandro Cortekaas, chairman of the refugee aid organization.
Philip Tiisma, a spokesman for the Dutch LGBT rights group, added that the IND did not pay enough attention to cultural differences in its decision. “You are asking someone from another country who has never spoken to anyone about their sexual identity to tell their story (…). I can imagine they want to be well prepared for this kind of question. This does not mean that they are not lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, ”he concluded.
The Netherlands began accepting refugees from Uganda on the basis of their LGBT affiliation in 2014, when an African country briefly introduced the death penalty for homosexual sex. Uganda soon replaced the death penalty with life imprisonment under international pressure. In addition, the country has other laws that discriminate against minorities.
